New Year’s first auction at Tomari Fish Market in Naha
The first auction of the year was held on January 4 at the Tomari Fish Market in Naha.
In the early morning 5:30 a.m., the market resounded with excited voices of middlemen and was filled with an air of excitement.
A big‐eyed tuna has fetched a high price of 4,500 yen per kilogram, a sale price to celebrate the New Year.
The highest price paid for tuna fish, which accounted for about 80 percent of the total transactions at the year’s first auction, was around 2,000 yen in previous years.
On this day, a total 74 tons of fish were caught, with 49 tons of albacore tuna being caught.
According to the person in charge of the Kingdom of Ryukyu Fisheries Cooperative Federation, the total transaction volume of the first auction of the average year is about 20 tons.
Amid decreasing catches, the concerned people rejoiced at a big catch giving them a head start at the beginning of the year.
(English translation by T&CT)
(Ryukyu Shimbun, 5 Sunday January 2014 The Roman)
